


And when it all goes to Hell

by HighlyProblematic



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Banter, Character Death, Enemies to Lovers, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, author is poor and can´t afford a beta reader, irregular updates, lots of banter actually, references to gnosticism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24310549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighlyProblematic/pseuds/HighlyProblematic
Summary: It always starts with Mabel.When his sister's life is on the line, Dipper has no choice but to agree to a contract with a certain creature he had thought dead. Bill is back, albeit not with a vengeance, at least not towards humanity this time. He was revived by a being by the name of Axolotl, albeit in a different body and with a task to complete: protect the world and the universe as we know it from a danger greater than anything the beings of this reality have ever had to deal with. For that, he needs Dipper's help. And despite despising each other, both have to set aside their grudges and differences and make it work.After all, time is running out.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines
Comments: 15
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue

“...and frankly, I´m sick of it!”

A door was opened, slamming against the wall with an angry bang. A male with messy, chocolate-brown hair walked out, brows furrowed and hands in his pockets. He was immediately followed by a young woman his age, her expression just as twisted with displeasure.

“Dipper, what the hell?! This is not about you right now. It´s about me!” 

The man whirled around with a furious look on his face, glaring at the women like one would at their enemy.

“Oh, fucking hell Mabel, when has it ever not been about you? It´s been about you our entire fucking lives! It´s always been about your dates, your friends, your heartaches, and god forbid something doesn’t go the way you want for once!”

The female shook her head, messily running a hand through her hair to calm herself down.

“I just… I just don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this. I just asked you to drive me to that concert my friend is playing at, so why are you so damn angry?”

“You asked me to drive you to that concert despite knowing that I’m invited to my friend’s engagement party tomorrow. You knew. Yet you still expect me to drop everything, cancel all my plans and drive you to that party like I’m your personal chauffeur, all because you don´t want to spend money on a taxi or an uber! I think I have a right to be angry.”

“Well I just thought- I didn’t want you to cancel it, and that place is far away and getting there is expensive and… and I thought you might just tell that guy that you’ll come by a bit later. I thought- “  
“Mabes, you didn’t think shit. You don’t just appear late at someone’s engagement party for no damn reason, because that’s tactless and impolite as hell! You just, as you always do, assumed that everyone around you should be on call for you 24/7 and willing to come rushing over whenever you need them.”

The female was visibly taken aback, her eyes glistening with tears, lips pressed together to not let any sobs escape. She took a long, shaky breath to regain her composure. Some of her neighbors could be seen peeking out of their windows, trying to make out who it was making such a scene at this time of the day.

“You always do,” the man repeated, eyes drawn to the ground. “It’s been the same shit since we were kids. I could have stayed with Ford back then. I could have stayed there and- you know, be happy. But I couldn’t have that, because of you. All because you guilt-tripped me into staying with you. All because- “

“Dipper, why in the world are bringing that up? Why are you trying to make me feel shitty for something that happened a fucking decade ago?”

His head suddenly shot up, he stomped over to his sister and yelled, words laced with venom.

“Because I’m honestly sick of playing second fiddle to you! I’m sick of constantly having to prioritize your needs and feelings over mine! Oh, you want some more recent examples? To freshen up your memory? How about that one time where I was on a date and you called me in the middle of it to pick you up because you and your friends were drunk off your asses and had no money for a drive left? That time I had to fly three states over and comfort you during my finals week because you were crying over being rejected by your internet boyfriend you never even met? When I gave up on the college that was my first choice because you didn’t want me to be too far away from you? Or how about all those times I let you crash in my tiny apartment when you were having relationship troubles with some guy or girl you moved in with? You know, I have an entire list of those. And, well, I just don’t want to do this anymore. I’m tired, Mabel. I’m tired of constantly being used as a solution for your problems and you throwing fits whenever you don’t get your way. And this was the final straw."

His anger made her look even smaller than she already was. There was a time where she had been taller than him, but sometime during puberty, a massive growth spurt hit him, causing him to tower over her like that. She was sniffling now, unable to hold back her tears, her voice breaking.

“So, I am awful? Is that what you’re trying to say? That I’m terrible? Because I think that’s enough. I get it.”

He just glanced at her, the look on his face changing from anger into one of tiredness mixed with disappointment. He shook his head and turned around, grabbing his car keys out of his pocket and unlocking his vehicle. 

“Dipper! Where are you going! You can’t just- wait, Dipper!”

The man didn’t bother to turn around.

“I hope you have a good time at that concert, Mabel. Good night.”

And with that, he was gone. Little did he know that this single night, this one moment would lead to a series of events that he could not have imagined even in his wildest fantasies. Something that would change the course of not only his life, but of the world and reality itself.

All because of Mabel. Somehow, those things always start with Mabel.


	2. Chapter One

Mason “Dipper” Pines was a 24-year-old man. And beside the fact that he had survived a magical quasi-apocalypse, there was nothing much extraordinary or special about him. Well, there was the fact that he had really good grades in university. His seemingly endless knowledge of everything regarding Sci-Fi movies. And that his hair, very faintly, always seemed to smell like nutmeg. Which was unusual, but not extraordinary. All in all, just another face in the crowd.

Said man was sitting in a car, panicked expression on his face as he slammed the brakes.

“God damnit, fucking MOVE!” he yelled at some guy who had come to a sudden halt in front of him, and he practically punched the horn in fury several times. The person who was blocking his path seemed to get the idea and moved, way too slow, wasting way too much time. Time Dipper did not have.

Just that morning, he had gotten a call from his mother, who was hysterical and could barely speak through her sobs and tears. Mabel has had an accident. She was in a taxi on the way to that concert, then some bastard came out of nowhere and crashed into them. Killing the driver and severely injuring his sister. And now he was on the way to the hospital they put her in, hands shaking and bile rising in his throat.

How the fuck could this happen. Why did this happen. Was them almost being killed by an omnipotent supernatural being and having to live with the scars not enough? Was it not enough already that both of them sometimes awoke at night, screaming and crying, because they were still haunted by nightmares of what had happened in Gravity Falls ten years ago? Was it not enough that they couldn´t even get professional help for their traumas because they could not possibly tell a single person outside of the Falls that they were almost wiped out by literal demons? And now, after all this, after everything they´ve been through…

The drive to the hospital was painful. With each second passing Dipper felt like his sister´s life was slipping away from him. When he finally got there, it was a mess. His parents were already there, both in tears and both as terrified as he was. Then, they were informed that they were not allowed to see Mabel just now. That her condition was very critical. And that they should prepare for the worst.

They were asked to sit down in a stuffy, small room and wait. So, the three of them waited in a stupor, not saying a word, with only the ticking of the clock on the wall to be heard.

Tick, tick, tick…

Dipper ground his teeth, looking straight ahead with a lost, unfocused gaze, clenching the fabric of his jeans firmly. For some reason, his ears were ringing, all of his body felt awfully heavy, yet he was light-headed, unable to form a single coherent thought. All that was left in his brain, repeating itself over and over again was that Mable was dying. She was dying, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. This time, there were no spells, there was no magic nor secret words that could save her. This was not Gravity Falls, and there were no miracles. Then, another realization hit him. His mouth went dry and tears appeared in the corner of his eyes. This could all have been prevented had he just taken Mabel to that concert himself instead… he would have probably taken a different route, he would have noticed the oncoming car sooner, he would have…

Tick, tick, t i c k…

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts. Something was wrong. Which wasn´t surprising, considering the current situation, but apart from that… The ticking of the clock had stopped. It was a rather insignificant detail, but for some reason, he had noticed it right away. He glanced at it and realized that the second hand was barely moving, or rather, not moving at all. A weird feeling overtook him, that sort of fear one experiences when they know that something is not quite right, but they cannot put their finger on what it could be. Instinctively he checked on his parents and was shocked to see that they too seemed to be frozen in time. A tear that had rolled down his father´s cheek was stuck in the air.

_“Tick, tick, tick, Pine Tree!”_ Dipper jumped out of his seat, alert like a cornered animal.

“What the- “

_“No time for long introductions now, I´m afraid. We have to act quick.”_

In front of his eyes, blue flames materialized in the air, growing bigger and bigger until they were taking up almost the entire room. The man screamed, stumbling backwards and falling on his behind, watching in horror as the fire flickered and danced, its harsh glow almost blinding.

_“Sheesh, what´s with that reaction? Have you left all of your courage back in the Falls?”_

A silhouette appeared in the middle of the fire. It was impossible to make out the details, but Dipper did not need to do that to know just what it was that had appeared in front of him.

“No,” he whispered, eyes widening in horror, “no, no, God no!”

It couldn´t be. It couldn´t be.

_“Listen, Pine Tree, I would very much appreciate it if you saved your panic attack for later. I´ll make it quick: I´m here for a deal.”_

Dipper shook his head frantically, closing his eyes shut and burying his face in his hands, hoping that this entire day had been nothing but a nightmare he would soon awaken from.

_“Oh for fuck´s sake, you want to save your useless sister or not?!”_

The man watched as the flames moved closer to him, but the entity mentioning Mabel got his attention and somewhat broke through the fear that had paralyzed him.

“What are you talking about!” he yelled, getting up unsteadily on his shaking legs. “You´re fucking dead. You shouldn’t be here! Get away from me and my parents!”

He grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be a vase placed on a small table next to the chair he had just sat on, and threw it at the creature. The object disappeared in the fire without a sound. It carried on with its speech, unbothered.

_“So here´s the thing: me appearing here has stopped time and postponed your sister´s untimely demise, however, this effect will soon cease. The second that clock over there starts ticking again, she will die. And no power in the world will be able to bring her back. But right now, I can heal her injuries. Make it so that she survives. In return, you will have to form a contract with me. Think fast.”_

Dipper shook his head again, backing away towards the wall.

“Are you kidding me? You can´t possibly expect me to do this. Do you honestly think that I´m stupid enough to fall for that? I don´t believe a word you´re saying! Get back to whatever hole you have been rotting in all these years!”

_“Fine by me. If you want to live with the guilt of letting your sister die for the rest of your life, which, by the way, won´t be all that long if you don´t agree to this contract, do as you please. I´ll be here in case you change your mind, but if you do, better make it quick.”_

Dipper´s mind was racing, the entire world seemed to be spinning. He couldn´t do this. Of course, he couldn´t. Trusting a monster that nearly threw the world into chaos and tried to enslave all of humanity was lunacy. All of his instincts screamed at him to not do it, to just close his eyes and wait until the horrible being was gone. But Mabel... sweet, dear Mabel. What if the demon was telling the truth? How could he possibly be able to live with himself knowing that he had let her die, not taking the one chance he had to save her?

_“Come on, Pine Tree. Don´t be silly now. Time´s almost up. Be a good brother.”_ A surprisingly human-looking arm appeared out of the flames, outstretched towards him.

_“If you don´t accept by the time I´m done counting, it will be over for her. Ten…”_

His body was shaking violently.

_“Nine.”_

He couldn´t breathe properly.

_“Eight._ ”

Dying. He was sure that he was dying and that he would be taken straight to hell by that monster.

_“Seven.”_

He closed his eyes. His feet slowly began carrying him towards the flames. Each second felt like an eternity.

_“Three… two…”_

With a fast motion, he took hold of the hand, watching his arm being enveloped by the fire.

_One_.


	3. Chapter 2

In the blink of an eye, the fire had disappeared, leaving Dipper behind. The clock on the wall dutifully took up its tick-tocking again. Dipper frantically turned around towards his parents, only to find that they were both perfectly fine, albeit looking somewhat lost and disoriented.

“Honey? Why are you standing in the middle of the room?” Mrs. Pines asked, returning to her senses.

Dipper mumbled something incoherent as he sat down once again, trying to force his blank-feeling mind to return to reality. There were dozens of thoughts rushing through his head trying to get his attention, but he couldn´t focus on anything, just sitting there motionless, unable to process the sheer madness and absurdity that his already fragile mind had been forced to deal with that single day.

He did not know how many hours had passed as the three of them sat there, but at some point, the door opened and one of the hospital workers walked in to inform them of Mabel´s well-being. Her condition was stable. Not only that, but all of her injuries were somehow healing at a miraculously fast rate. They would still not be able to visit her for now, but what mattered was that she had escaped death´s grasp.

Dipper could not remember what went on after the happy message had been delivered, as his head had gone fuzzy. He remembered tears of joy being spilled and the sheer happiness and relief on his parents’ faces, but could not recall his drive home and when he had gotten there. He dropped onto his bed still in his clothes and sleep overtook him the second his body touched the mattress.

\---

When he woke up, it was already past noon, yet he still felt incredibly exhausted to a point where he could barely keep his eyes open. Still, he forced himself out of bed, his legs dragging him into the shower. The fuzziness had not yet disappeared from his head, clouding his senses like a thick, heavy fog. He stumbled into the kitchen on autopilot, half-asleep as he tried to get his ancient, dirty coffee-machine to work. As the black liquid finally started pouring into his cup, he was startled by a sound coming from the window. Dipper turned around. Something, _someone_ , was sitting on the windowsill.

The intruder glanced at him with a bored expression on his face.

“Bout time, meatbag.”

It was a man, looking like he was around Dipper´s age. Slender and tall, with legs that seemed just a little too long. Dressed in clothes that were an eccentric person´s idea of dapper, all in black and yellow. And a top-hat, hovering inches above his head. Munching away at what Dipper recognized as half of a grilled cheese toast he had not finished the day before. He devoured the last bite and left his place on the windowsill, his legs shaking a bit as he stood.

“Man, I’m absolutely not a fan of this whole walking and gravity thing you´ve got going on. Millions of years of evolution and you guys still haven´t figured out how to move three-dimensionally…”

Dipper abruptly grabbed the nearest drawer he could find and took hold of a kitchen knife which he pointed at his visitor, backing a few feet away. The new appearance didn´t fool him; he knew exactly who the thing in front of his was.

“Woah! Ok then-”

“Get out. Get out right now.”

The being shook its head with a faux apologetic expression.

“No can do. We had a deal, remember? I fulfilled my part, now it´s your turn.”

Deal? Dipper´s memories of the previous day came crawling back, making his skin erupt in goosebumps and face go pale with fear.

“What do you want? You shouldn´t be here, you should be dead!”

“Asking a lot of questions, yet not even bothering to greet me properly.”

Dipper almost jumped in panic as he saw his intruder creeping towards him. His shaking hands gripped the knife even tighter. Said intruder just chuckled heartily at the display, leaning onto the kitchenette in an unbothered manner.

“What are you planning to do with that, make me a sandwich? Thanks, I´m not interested in that after trying your atrocious cooking. No, seriously, put that down. It looks pathetic.”

The man felt utterly hopeless. His inner eye was showing him all of the merciless, painful ways he was going to be tortured, eviscerated and killed by the hand of that demon.

“What do you want from me?” he asked again, trying his hardest to not let his voice break from fear. “You´re here to kill me? Finish what you´ve started? Take my soul and torture it for eternity?”

“Would love to, honestly. Unfortunately, as much as I´d like to rip your face off and decorate this place with your insides, I am not able to. I´m here because I need your help. Your whole universe does.”

Mason stared at his visitor, dumbfounded.

“Not able to? And you need my help? What do you- no, you know what, you need to tell me everything. From the very beginning, in order.”

“Alright then,” the creature said with a sigh, sitting down on the edge of the kitchenette, “better listen carefully, it´s going to be a long one. So, basically, your creator wants you gone. And I mean all of you. The entire universe. And we´re the only ones who can stop it.”

Mason´s expression turned into one of utter confusion as he tried to comprehend what had just been said to him.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, you know, the creator. The one that´s responsible for creating the material universe you live in. Everything around you, basically. He´s got many names. Yaldabaoth, Demiurge… doesn´t matter. Fact is, he´s getting bored with his creations. Like an artist abandoning a half-finished project after realizing it´s not as good as he´d wanted it to be. Wants to start anew, with a blank canvas, so to speak, meaning he wants to wipe out all of what he´s created so far. You meatbags included. Make you all disappear.”

The demon emphasized the statement by making a popping sound with his lips.

“Now, there´s this thing called Axolotl. Lives outside of this realm of reality, in some sort of pocket dimension. It…” his face contorted into one of disgust and shame, “…helped me. After my consciousness was trapped in nothingness for over a decade because of what _you_ did to me, we had an agreement. It was going to help me escape, give me a new form I could house myself in. In return, I have to help save your world from complete annihilation, as well as give up on trying to enslave or otherwise harm it ever again. Waited for a time where I was of use to him before helping me out, that frilly bastard.”

Dipper´s mind was racing, having a hard time processing the information he was presented with.

“Wait. So you´re saying that a god-like being wants to bring about an apocalypse and you were asked to stop him, but what do you need my help for? How do I tie in in all of this? How could I possibly be of any use in this situation, why can´t you do it on your own? Why can´t Axolotl do it if it´s powerful enough to bring you back?”

“Because as much as it wants to help humankind it´s seemingly so endeared by, it is bound to its pocket dimension and can barely affect the material universe at all. Even creating this body for me was extremely difficult for it to do and it had to jump through several loopholes to make it happen. As for your other question… at the end of my glorious crusade in the Falls, I have lost a good amount of my powers. Energy such as mine- let´s call it magic- doesn´t just get lost however, it gets scattered and clings to other beings, getting absorbed by them. I would have thought your dearest uncle was the lucky one to become the vessel of those powers, but instead, it had to be you. And since the agreement with Axolotl prevents me from just killing you to get my powers back, I had to make that contract with you instead, binding your soul to mine. Now, as long as you´re close by, I can harness all the magic I have lost to you and use it again. And I very much need it if I want to take on a being as powerful as Mr. Demiurge himself.”

Dippers eyes went wide and he felt a feeling of sickness overtake his body.

“You did WHAT? You ‘bound’ your soul to mine?! Are you absolutely insane?! You can´t, you can´t- no, undo it, undo it right now!”

He began hyperventilating, head heavy with dizziness.

“I don´t want this. I don´t want any of this! I´ve had enough of weirdness and danger for several lifetimes! I just want to live a normal, boring life, get a degree, find a job, maybe marry and have a family… I´ve survived one apocalypse, I don´t want to do all of this again!”

“Well isn´t that just too fucking bad?” said the demon in a mocking tone. “I´m not exactly happy about this whole situation either, just so you know.”

“Why didn´t you TELL me?!” yelled Dipper, tears forming in his eyes as he stared at the demon in fury. “Why am I only now finding out about the apocalypse and ‘binding souls’ thing?”

“Because we hardly had the time to talk all that out, with your sibling dying and all.”

“You tricked me!”

“Did not. Your sister´s alive, isn´t she? I made it so that she survived and healed from her injuries. I kept my promise. As for the rest, that´s entirely your fault. Who the hell signs a contract without reading it first?”

Mason buried his face in his hands. A desperate sob escaped his lips. “It´s not fair. I can´t do this. Please, just go away and let me live my life in peace.”

“Aww, but Pine-Tree, don´t care about your poor friends and loved ones being completely erased from existence down to the last molecule? The longer you sit here and sob, the stronger the creator gets. From what Axolotl has told me he is asleep right now, gathering strength, because destroying an entire universe is pretty hard work, even for a creator. So getting to it as fast as possible would be beneficial for everyone involved.”

The men fixated the demon with a vicious, tear filled glare. Staring back at him were two eyes as amber as they were dangerous, a golden, triangular tattoo visible on the right one.

"How can I be sure this isn´t just another trick of yours? How could anyone trust someone like you?"

"You still being able to ask questions should be enough of a proof," the demon replied. "But let´s pretend nothing bad had ever happened between us in the past!"

He took hold of his floating hat and held it to his chest, bowing gracefully.

"Pleased to meet you, human. Name´s Bill. Looking forward to working with ya."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here´s my own interpretation of Bill from this fic:
> 
> https://66.media.tumblr.com/54056df901f9904c73a7649180075734/1a4efbbbd81d4cba-5b/s640x960/6df5909b8587e42ee4c3c48dd9e932a1982844be.png
> 
> Hope you guys like it so far.


	4. Chapter 3

Dipper stared at the demon with disdain, carefully walking past him, expecting to get jumped at any second. He needed to sit, feeling like he´d seriously faint if he didn´t.

“This is insane,” he said, rubbing his temples, trying to soothe the headache that was slowly getting to him.

“How are we even going to stop him?”

“Use force, probably. I´d wager he won´t just sit down and peacefully negotiate with us over a cup of tea. Worst case scenario is we have to slay him.”

“Slay a god?!”

“Yeah, why not? I´ve beat the shit out of plenty of creators in my time, then absorbed their powers. Gotta keep yourself in shape and on top of the food-chain.”

Dipper held his breath, asking quietly:

“What happens to a universe after its creator dies?”

“Depends. Some go on existing as usual, some collapse, sometimes a different being takes the creator´s place, provided there is one powerful enough to do that in that universe. Not that I care really, I only have this one task to fulfill and the rest isn´t for me to worry about.”

The demon grabbed the mug with Dipper´s coffee, smelled at it with a curious expression and then downed the whole thing in one go, not bothered by the fact that it was still very hot. Dipper couldn´t bring himself to care.

“And what´s the plan? Where does the creator reside, how do we get there?”

“Fuck if I know. Not by normal means, that´s for sure. If I had all of my magic, I could´ve found him easily, but as I am now-”

“What do you mean you ‘don´t know’! Aren´t you supposed to be almighty and all-knowing? What´s even the point of having you around if you can´t do anything?!” Mason yelled, anger replacing fear. He got up, slamming his hands on the table and shooting his intruder a murderous glare. “You torture me, try to murder me and everyone I care about…”

He got closer to Bill with every word, until he was shouting inches away from his face.

“…then barge into my life twelve years later, chain my soul so you can use it as a power battery, ask me to fucking take on god himself to prevent the annihilation of the universe, and expect me to play along despite you being too powerless to be of any help in this situation?”

“I am not powerless,” the demon growled, his pupils suddenly turning into slits, similar to that of a reptile. “It was you and your damned uncle who made me like this, who turned me into half of what I had once been!”

“Oh, you poor thing! And just whose fault is that? Who wanted to play conqueror and bit off more than he could chew? You deserve way worse than that for all you´ve done, so don´t even think about playing the victim!”

Bill´s hands shook and his breath hitched with fury, face twisting into an almost inhuman liking grimace as he roughly grabbed Mason by his collar. Screw the promise. Screw the contract. He would rip that little vermin apart piece by piece until he was within an inch of his life, then mend his wounds only to do it all over again and again and again, making him scream in agony, suffer…

But despite his entire being screaming at him to _kill kill kill_ , he could not lift an arm. Literally, it felt as if it was being kept in place by an unseen force that prevented him from doing anything more violent to the human than holding him by his collar, no matter how hard he tried. 

_Damn you, Axolotl._

He glared at Mason, who returned his gaze defiantly, despite shaking like a leaf, visibly scared for his dear life. The demon growled lowly, unclenched his fist and let go of the other, giving him a light shove along with that. A deadly silence came over both of them.

And just that very second, Dipper´s phone rang, blaring the Ducktective theme-song on full volume. Dipper wasted no time, running over to the table to pick it up. Immediately, the alarmed voice of his mother sounded at the other side of the line, asking him why in the world he had not answered the phone in two days. Confused, Dipper took a look at the display, the current date on it proved his mother´s words right. He went pale, trying to find a convincing apology, then quickly made up something about having had problems with his phone. After Mrs. Pines had scolded him some more, she calmed down, joyously proclaiming that due to Mabel recovering so quickly they had moved her out of the Intensive Care into another room and that she was allowed to have visitors again. She and his father had wanted to visit her with Dipper, but since he wouldn´t pick up the phone, they went without him.

At once, Mason felt terrible guilt overtake him, making lower his eyes in shame. He told his mother that he would visit Mabel this instant, saying good-bye to her and rushed past Bill to get his keys and put his shoes on.

“Where are you going?!” the creature yelled after him, but he didn´t bother to answer, running out the door and shutting it close behind him.

\---

On his way to the hospital, Dipper made a quick detour to a food place and bookshop, buying the first YA romance-fantasy novel he laid his eyes on as well as some Chinese takeout for both himself and his sister. Mabel harbored an enormous guilty pleasure for the former and he figured that she would need something to keep the boredom at bay during her stay. When he arrived, he asked for directions to his sister´s room at the reception.

When he got there, he found that the room was rather small and somewhat cramped. There were three beds, two of which were occupied by older ladies who both appeared to be fast asleep, one of them snoring audibly. On the third, the one closest to the window, Mabel was sitting upright, busy doing something with her hair. As she heard the door open, she turned her head towards it, beaming brightly as she saw her twin. Mason returned that smile, walked over to her and was immediately captured into a tight, strong hug that nearly threw him off his feet.

“I had wanted to ask you how you feel, but judging by your grip, you have plenty of strength already,” the man said with a gentle chuckle.

“You bet! You know that feeling when you´ve got _just_ the right amount of sleep, and you feel like you could rip trees out of the ground? That´s how I´ve been feeling since I woke up. Not at all like someone who almost died should probably feel like.”

They both grinned somewhat awkwardly, Dipper carefully freeing herself from her arms to reach inside his backpack for the food and book he had bought. She almost squealed with delight, grabbing the fried rice and shoveling it into her mouth right away.

“You´re a saint, Dip!” she proclaimed joyfully. “I haven´t had a normal meal since I´ve gotten here. The nurses and doctors are super nice and all, but you know what they say about hospital food, yech! I´m convinced that whatever that was in the chicken soup yesterday was still at least partially alive, I think it might have blinked at me once.”

Mason sat down on a chair that stood next to the bed, only now noticing how very hungry he was, wolfing down his own food like an animal. He tried to think of something to say. Despite both being obviously happy to see each other, there was an unresolved tension between them, things that they needed to get off their chests. However, as he was trying to pick up the last pieces of rice with his plastic fork, Mabel was the first to address the topic:

“I´m sorry, Dipper.”

His glance shot up; surprise clear on his face.

“You were right. I am awful.”

“I never said- “

“I know, but it´s true. You know how they say that you see your life pass before your eyes before you die? When… when I felt that car collide with the taxi I was in, I had something similar to this. The last thing I remembered before everything went black was us fighting that night, and that was also the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up. And while I was awake, I thought about what you said…”

She got quiet for a few seconds, before continuing.

“And you were right. I´ve realized that all this time, I have been kind of really shitty towards you. I´ve always expected you to be there for me, taking everything you did for me for granted. I don´t know, we have always had this thing with me being the fun-loving sister who gets herself into all sorts of wacky antics and you being the smart, rational brother getting me and others out of trouble… and somewhere along the way, I kind of forgot that you are a person with your own feelings and needs whose world doesn´t revolve around me.”

She smiled a sad smile, reaching out for his hand and squeezing it.

“So, yeah. I really am sorry for treating you like this. I´m sorry for having expected you to be the solution to all those problems that I should have handled by myself. And I´m sorry for all those times I have made everything about me and my worries, completely disregarding yours. Can you forgive me? Can we start over?”

Dipper felt a knot forming in his throat, tears almost threatened to spill out of his eyes, but he held them back, shaking his head.

“Sure, I mean, yes. I´m sorry too, for snapping. I just- I´m so happy you´re fine. That you made it. That it all turned out well in the end. I really am.”

“It´s ok. Looking back on it, I think I would have snapped at me, too.”

With a feeling the feeling of relief slowly replacing the tension between them, Mabel decided to change the subject, talking about her mostly uneventful stay at the hospital. She mentioned several times how shocked the entire staff seemed to be about her recovery, one of the nurses even saying that it made her believe in miracles and go to church again. Mason could only smile bitterly at the irony of that statement.

“But I guess it _is_ kind of a miracle, if you think about it. And this scar will always remind me of it. I´ll call it the Wonderscar!” she exclaimed with a grin, pointing at said scar that ran along the right side of her neck. It was the only thing indicating that something had happened to her.

The rest of the evening was spent flipping through the novel and reading it out loud, mocking the corny characters and questionable dialogue. Mason tried his best to laugh along as convincingly as possible, not wanting her to notice that he was not as relaxed as he should have been at that moment. Of course, the one person who had known him since before he had even born could easily see through his charade. She looked up from the book, staring at him intently.

“What´s wrong?” she asked.

“What do you mean? Nothing´s wrong.”

“There is. You´re constantly scratching the side of your nose, you always do that when you´re worried about something. And when mom and dad came to visit, you weren´t there with them, they said you wouldn´t answer your phone. I´m not mad about that or anything, I just figured something must have had happened.”

“Oh, that… it was just my phone malfunctioning. I´m fine, really! I was just extremely worried, obviously. I´m still dealing with the aftermath of the shock, is all.” Which wasn´t a lie, technically. “All is good. You´ve recovered, so it´s all good.”

She kept her gaze on him, and he could feel that she knew that he was hiding something. But she decided not to push it, knowing from experience that it would only cause him to recoil further.

Time went by fast, and before they knew it, it got dark, visiting times were over and Mason was asked to leave. He had been reading to her, not noticing that she had fallen asleep as he did so. With a warm expression, he put the book aside and gently ruffled her hair before quietly getting up and leaving, making his way back to the car.

For a moment, he had forgotten the dire situation he was in, his despair overshadowed by momentary bliss and happiness over the fact that Mabel was well and that they had resolved their fight. However, it faded as soon as he got inside the vehicle, nearly jumping out of his skin when a look into the rear-view mirror revealed to him a figure sitting in the backseat.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello frens, here´s chapter 5.
> 
> I know it took longer this time, I had to work a lot for uni. I´m so tired of making PowerPoint presentations it´s unreal lol.  
> I hope I can make up for the wait with this chapter being somewhat longer.
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone who has commented and left kudos, you guys are great <3

“Why exactly did you follow me again?” asked Dipper as he glanced into the rear-view mirror, irritated. Had he not locked the door before leaving? He was pretty sure he had. Yet, somehow, Bill was sitting in the backseat, arms folded and looking unbearably bored. Despite being trapped in his new form he still had the ability to teleport, it seemed.

“Because by finding you I could finally use a good chunk of the magic that I´ve lost, so I´m sure as hell not letting you get away. Thanks to our connection I will always know where you are, by the way. So don´t even try.”

Mason did not reply to that, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

“Another thing I forgot to mention. While it does make me much more powerful, the soul-binding has an unfortunate side effect.”

“Figures,” replied Dipper in a tired voice, preparing for the worst.

“Yeah well, our souls being interconnected means that our lives are, too. If you manage to get yourself killed, I´ll be a goner as well, and vice versa. And since the annihilation of your kind can only be stopped with both of us alive, I´d say it´s in everyone´s best interest for you to stay in my line of sight so I can ensure both our safety.”

How ironic, Mason thought. The same being that had tried to kill him was now dependent on him staying alive. His grip on the steering wheel got stronger.

“And just how much time do we have? Until that… thing wakes up?”

“You know, Pinetree, you´re asking an awful lot of questions, it´s rather annoying. I liked you better when you were sleeping and keeping your mouth shut. For all I know it could happen tomorrow, so we better hurry up and think of something.”

Mason decided not to say anything for the rest of the ride. Once they were back at his small apartment, he pulled out a large bag from his closet and began packing, haphazardly throwing in clothes, food and other miscellaneous things. Bill watched from the side, raising a brow

“You sure now´s the right time for vacation?”

“It´s not vacation,” Dipper grumbled as he took some old shirts out if his closet. “We´re going back to the Falls. If anyone can help us now, it´s Grunkle Ford.”

He could practically feel the tension in the room rise as he said that.

“That old geezer is still alive? Why do you think he can help us? Just because he has some minor experience with the occult and dimension-jumping shenanigans?” his visitor snarled, turning his attention to Dipper´s personal belongings that were placed neatly on the shelves in the living room.

“I don´t see you having any ideas for what to do!”

Dipper did not feel good about this, at all. After all of the things his great-uncles had gone through, they deserved to spend the rest of their lives quietly and peacefully, far away from any worries, weirdness and danger. Just like himself and his sister, they were scarred from the horrors Bill had brought upon them, and Dipper didn´t even want to imagine their reactions if he were to appear at their doorstep with the very same dream demon that had almost killed them, but he could not think of any other option. Ford and his seemingly endless knowledge were the only lifeline in this desperate situation.

While packing, he made a call to the Mystery Shack, informing his great-uncles that he would like to visit, and both of them were more than happy to see their nephew after such a long time. Mason could not bring himself to tell them the truth, figuring that it would only make both of them lose their minds from confusion and panic. They´d never let him enter the Falls with Bill by his side. No, it would be better to talk to them about it face to face.

Bill did not seem to be worried at all, or at least he didn´t show it. Completely ignoring the human, looked around the home, grabbing whatever he could get his hands on and investigating it with a bored expression. He successfully raided the man´s kitchen pantry, knocked over potted plants and bottles, and broke several of the souvenir snow globes Dipper had gotten from the Mystery Shack.

“Alright, it will all be alright, Grunkle will now what to do, he always knows, he will- what the hell are you doing!?” yelled the brunette as he caught Bill holding a box containing his favorite tabletop RPG upside down, its contents falling onto the floor.

“Stop touching my stuff! Don´t touch _anything_!” Mason ripped the box out of the demon´s hands, bowing down to collect the tiny game pieces, then realizing that there was no time for that and returning to throwing things into his bag hastily.

“Why? Got something to hide?” asked Bill with an empty expression.

“You…” the man tried his best to calm down, taking a deep breath. “You can´t go out like this. Change.”

“What?”

“Your clothes! Change them, people will stare!”

“Not my problem. I like those. Axolotl may be a bastard, but his taste in fashion is pretty alright. And I´m sure as hell not putting those rags you wear anywhere near me.”

Dipper was surprised his teeth didn´t break from how hard he was gritting them.

“Then please. At least don´t make that float. _Please_.”

He pointed at Bill´s top-hat that was still magically hovering inches above his head. To his surprise, the demon complied, shrugging and snapping a finger. The hat vanished.

He still looked like a Steampunk convention reject, but at least there was nothing visibly paranormal about him now. Dipper sighed.

“Let´s go.”

As he locked the door to his apartment, the dreadful realization that this might have been the last time he had seen his home overtook him.

\---

Awkward would have been an understatement if one were to describe the atmosphere in the car. Dipper had still not fully come to terms with the fact that Bill was really _there_. With him, on the way to Oregon. The demon himself didn´t say anything, didn´t move. He was lying in the backseat like a corpse, ridiculously long legs bent upwards. Mason shot him a few nervous glances now and then, and he was sure that Bill never even blinked, which he found incredibly creepy. He was a ball of nerves, entire body tense and fingers tapping against the wheel erratically. This would go on for many more hours since they would only reach the Falls at dawn the next day, that was if they didn´t stop to rest. And just thinking about his Grunkles´ faces when the time came to tell them the truth made him want to claw at his face from guilt and nervousness. He needed to distract himself with something, anything, and Bill was the only possible distraction at the moment. Carefully, he asked him:

“So what can you do, anyway? What kinds of magic do you possess at the moment?”

The other remained quiet for a few moments, then replied.

“Most everything I could do before, but not as effectively.”

“Can you still do the entering people´s mindscapes thing?”

“I can. Tried it on you while you were sleeping, actually. It´s a lot more difficult to do with a physical form, but definitely possible. Your mind´s a mess, by the way.”

“And just whose fault do you think it is?” the boy mumbled lowly, not even surprised that Bill would infiltrate his mind like that.

“I can teleport short distances, though it really wears me out. I´m very strong for human standards. Also, arson.”

“What?”

Bill got up, putting his hands together. A glowing, bright blue fire suddenly shot up between them, the flames but an inch away from licking at the roof of the car. Mason jumped instinctively, almost losing control over his vehicle.

“Stop that!”

The demon cackled, but did as he was told, the fire disappearing.

“You were much braver as a kid, Pinetree. Now you´re all jumpy and boring.”

He leaned back again, arms behind his head.

“All of you humans are boring. Going back and forth and back and forth with your meaningless tasks everyday, like ants. Even the more interesting of you turn out to be big disappointments. I don´t get what Axolotl sees in you.”

The other´s negative words about his kind didn´t stifle Dipper´s curiosity.

“What kind of being is Axolotl? Why does it want to protect our universe?”

“A frilly coward that lazes around in his pocket dimension all day. As for the other question, no idea. I suppose it really likes you meatbags, but it must have some other motivation as well. In the grand scheme of the universe, nothing is ever done out of pure goodness of the heart alone.”

Mason rolled his eyes. Of course a being like Bill wouldn´t believe in things like kindness and empathy, probably projecting his own hatred of all living beings onto others. He thought some more, then asked:

“Why did it give you a human form? To make you fit in better?”

“Probably. It said something about this body being ‘a representation of my inner self’, whatever that means. Now quit asking about that thing.”

“Why? Shouldn´t you be grateful that it basically brought you back from the dead and gave you a second chance?”

Bill snorted.

“Yeah right, I am totally grateful for being trapped in a fleshbag body with most of my powers gone. Besides, it didn´t do it for free, it gets something out of this, so there is nothing to be grateful for.”

They got quiet afterwards, neither saying a thing until they reached their destination.

\- - -

“No, really, please just stay silent. Let me do the talking,” Dipper demanded for the umpteenth time as he stopped the car in front of the Mystery Shack. There was absolutely no way this wasn´t going to be a disaster, but at least he could hope that Bill wouldn´t add fuel to the fire, as small as that hope was.

“Whatever, Pinetree. Let´s just get this over with and hope Sixer doesn´t die from hysterics before he´s able to help us,” the demon growled, irritated.

Mason took a deep, shaky breath, then got out of the vehicle and meekly walked towards the Shack. The old, somewhat rundown building looked so warm and welcoming, evoking all kinds of sweet memories of times long gone. It put a sad smile on his face and made his heart ache. If only he could had come there under different circumstances.

He mustered up all his courage and knocked. A few seconds later, he heard heavy steps coming from inside the building and the door was opened. Grunkle Stan stood before them, wearing a dirty, white tank top and worn-out shorts, holding a cane in his left hand that supported his weight. The moment he saw his nephew his eyes lit up and a bright smile appeared on his wrinkly face.

“Kid! How long has it been!”

He wasted no time trapping Dipper in a strong bear hug, almost squeezing the air out of him. Mason returned the hug happily, forgetting cruel reality for a moment. They remained like this for a while until his Grunkle eventually let go, patting Dipper on his shoulder.

“Ha, and here I was thinking I would kick the bucket without ever seeing you again. I see you did some growing up, and your limbs aren´t quite as noodly. Good job, kid!”

Stan´s eyes fell onto Bill, he mustered him curiously.

“And who´s that dapper fella? A friend of yours? What´s with that triangle tattoo on your eye, boy? Is that some new trend you young people have? Mason, why didn´t you tell me you were bringing friends over, I would have put on something a little more appropriate!”

Dipper became pale suddenly, lowering his gaze.

“Grunkle Stan it´s… it´s really, really a long, complicated story and…”

He lost his train of thought, nervousness and fear overtaking him. _Come on, just tell him. You´ll have to anyway. Just do it._

However, no words would come out, instead he just stared at his great uncle helplessly, desperate look on his face. The old man glanced back at him, expression becoming thoughtful and brows furrowed.

“Alright,” he said, “I see what´s going on. Ford, come over.”

“What? Grunkle Stan, please, let me explain…”

“Stanford, come on, move your old behind over here!”

Dipper´s heart sank as he saw his other great uncle appear. He was holding onto a spatula and wearing a white apron, looking slightly irritated.

“What do you want, Stanley? I have to watch the steaks, I don´t want to have Dipper eat pieces of coal for- oh, hello, Mason, you´re here already? And you´ve brought someone along? I´m very sorry, the steaks aren´t ready yet, you have arrived earlier than I anticipated. I hope you can wait a little bit longer. Anyway, yes, Stanley?”

Grunkle Stan suddenly grinned triumphantly.

“You owe me 50 bucks, old man. Hand them over.”

“Excuse you? What do I owe you 50 bucks for?!”

Stan gestured proudly over to Dipper and Bill.

“We had a bet going on that if this guy over here manages to find himself a sweetheart by the end of the year, you´d give me 50 bucks, remember?”

Mason´s lower jaw almost dropped to the floor as his brain tried to process what his uncle had said.

Ford looked surprised, but smiled nonetheless.

“Really, Mason? How come you didn´t tell us? Congratulations!”

“No, nonono, you got that all wrong! Stan, what are you saying, that guy´s absolutely NOT my… dear god…”

“What, you two have nothing going on? Are you sure?”

“Yes, very sure! Grunkle Stan, please-”

“Aww, shucks… and here I was, getting excited. Could have at least pretended to be an item with that guy to fatten up your old, dear uncle´s wallet.”

Ford cleared his throat, trying to keep himself from laughing.

“Well, Stanley, that´s what you get for jumping to conclusions. Look, you made your nephew very uncomfortable.”

He stepped over to Dipper and hugged him with his non-occupied arm before returning back inside to take care of the steaks.

“Grunkle, you two make bets on my love life?!”

“Not just _your_ love life, but c´mon, don´t be offended, it´s all in good fun, heh. Now don´t stand here like statues, come in! Ack, stupid leg…”

Mason followed the old man, and not even the familiar surroundings and the nostalgic feeling the scent of wood that lingered in the room evoked in him were enough to ease the ever-growing fear of what was to come. His great-uncle was in quite talkative mood, cracking open a soda and telling them in detail about his adventures at the arctic ocean before stopping, suddenly, looking at Bill.

“Hold up, Mason here hasn´t even introduced you yet. No need to be humble or shy, by the way, we´re all family here. So, what´s your name, kid?”

Dipper interjected before the demon could say anything.

“Ok, Grunkle Stan, listen. This is going to sound insane, and I need you to promise me you won´t freak out. You probably will, anyway, but please- just let me tell you the whole story before you do…”

He gulped, deciding to make it quick and painless.

“This is Bill.”

Stanley gave him a confused look, then shrugged.

“Yeah, a bit of a boring name, but nothing to freak out over. Nothing compared to that one fella I knew who was named Gangolf. FORD, have I told you guys the story of how I met Gangolf?!”

“Yes, you have, Stanley. About three or four times now,” called Ford from the other room.

“I just can´t get over it, I can´t. Imagine looking at someone´s ID and seeing a name like that, good Lord! Seriously, parents who give their kids such obviously stupid names should be tarred and feathered!” He let out a loud throaty laugh as he took a sip from his drink.

Suddenly, the dream demon who had been surprisingly quiet until that moment began to chuckle, quietly at first, getting louder and louder until he was cackling manically, almost doubling over. Grunkle Stan grinned, proud that someone was amused by his anecdote.

“See? This guy gets it.”

A few moments later Bill´s laughter died down, albeit he still wore a large, twisted grin on his face. Dipper´s blood ran cold as he saw him creep towards his uncle, slowly.

“Come on, old man. I know you´re not as big-brained as your brother, but you have to be smarter than that. You really don´t recognize me? At all?”

Stanley´s expression changed to a bewildered one.

“Huh? I may be old, but I´m not senile. I don´t believe we´ve ever met, kid. No need to be rude-“

“Ah, so you don´t recall trapping me inside your head and _erasing_ me out of existence? Watching as I _burned_ in front of your very eyes? That´s not very nice of you, Fez.”

The owner of the Shack took a few steps back, glancing back and forth between the demon and Dipper.

“Is this some kind of joke? Are you pulling a prank on me?”

Mason was about to open his mouth and explain everything, but was interrupted by Ford who appeared in the room, demanding to know what the whole commotion was about. Bill snickered, moving quickly towards the man before Dipper could even try and stop him. He lifted his fist, playfully knocking the scientist´s metal-plated forehead. His pupils narrowed, taking on a reptilian shape.

“Knock knock, Sixer.”

Dipper felt like he was watching in slow-motion as his great uncle was hit by realization, beginning to shake as his eyes filled with fear, face going pale.

“No, this can´t be,” he breathed out quietly. “Mason, please tell me this isn´t what I think it is.”

The young man lowered his head, quietly confirming his great-uncle´s suspicions.

“Yes, and I´ve made a contract with him. The whole world is in danger, and we need to- “

Ford was behind the counter of the little souvenir shop before he could even finish. Dipper screamed out in fear when he saw him pull out a gun from under it, pointing it at the demon, hands trembling.

“You… have you not tortured my family enough already, you one-eyed _menace_?! Return from where you came from, at once, or I swear to god- Mason, what do you mean you´ve made a contract with him? Have you lost your damn mind?!”

“The universe is in danger! It is going to be extinguished, and he is the only one who can help us prevent that from happening!”

The scientist didn´t even try to listen to his nephew´s rambled explanations, shaking his head vehemently.

“He must have brainwashed you, like he always does to people… I´ll end this once and for all.”

The young man´s heart froze in place; his great-uncle wasn´t kidding. He was really about to shoot Bill then and there. The demon, however, made a dramatic face, sighing loudly.

“Oh, dear. I guess this will be the end of me, then. However, Sixer, you should know that your nephew’s life is bound to mine by contract now. You kill me, you kill him as well.”

He grinned inwardly, enjoying the whole thing immensely. Of course, there was nothing for him to worry about; he may look like a fleshbag on the outside, but he was still an otherworldly, powerful entity. A regular human weapon would only hurt him at most, never kill him. However, he decided to play along just to see a horrified expression appear on the scientist´s mug who was shaking like a leaf now, close to hyperventilating.

“This can´t be, you´re lying!”

“You can try and find out for yourself,” Bill said with a shrug. “You shoot me right now, then call Pinetree´s dear sister and parents, tell them how you´ve slaughtered their poor baby in cold blood.”

Mason tried to say something, but no sound would come out of his dry mouth. To his surprise great-uncle Stanley, who had been quiet throughout the entire ordeal, limped towards his brother, positioning himself between Bill and the barrel of the gun, ignoring Ford´s demands to get away with a shake of his head.

“Ford, he _could_ be telling the truth. And if he is I can´t let you do this.”

“Stanley, don´t be stupid, there is no way- “

“I´m not gonna risk it. I´m not going to let my own brother shoot my nephew. Please, Ford, put that down. Let´s listen to what Dipper has to say.”

For a few moments, the room was deadly quiet, Ford scanning everyone in it with a calculating gaze. Eventually, he began to slowly lower the gun, not taking his eyes off of Bill, cursing under his breath. Stanley turned around to face Dipper, his expression strict and serious.

“Alright, kid. I think you have some explaining to do.”


	6. Chapter 6

After Dipper had finished his explanation- trying to make it a quick as possible as to not strain his grunkels´ nerves any more than needed- the room fell into a deadly silence. He barely dared to lift his eyes, afraid of the rejection he´d see on the men´s faces, and ground his teeth in nervousness. Stan looked no better, glancing between his brother and nephew helplessly, fingers tapping against his walking cane as he tried to comprehend the situation. His twin wore a blank expression, but the way he was gripping the counter he way leaning against, knuckles turning white, betrayed his true emotions.

“It´s true, then,” he finally muttered. “You really made a deal with him.”

Dipper flinched at the coldness of his voice, nodding.

“Yes. And we came here because I couldn´t think of anyone else who would know what to do. I´m so sorry for dragging you two into this…”

“You made a deal,” Ford interrupted him lowly, “after everything he´s done? After having everyone you care about almost die by his hand, seeing with your own eyes just how dangerous he is? Endangering the entirety of humanity-“

“Ford, he can´t hurt us! Not anymore!”

“How the hell can you be so sure of that?! For all we know all of what he said was just a lie, and he could just be waiting for the right moment to do something terrible!”

The scientist furiously banged his fists on the counter, stood up straight and walked towards his nephew menacingly.

“Mason, are you insane? You better be, because otherwise you´d just be endlessly stupid! I can´t believe it, after all this, after all we went through- was one apocalypse not enough for you?”

“But what was I supposed to do?” Dipper yelled, getting increasingly aggravated himself. “Just let Mabel die? Is that what you would have wanted?”

“You should have rejected, called me right away, so that I could´ve figured something out, instead of risking _all_ of our lives to save a single one!”

Mason´s shoulders sank, and he just glared at his former idol in disbelief.

“That´s my sister you´re talking about,” he whispered. “Your niece. And you´re saying that I should have…”

“Don´t you try and make me look like the bad guy now, don´t you dare. How do you not understand, we´re talking about things that go so, so far beyond a single human life, we´re talking about a being that has the ability to tear apart every bit of our universe as we know it, plunge everything into chaos, torture all of us for eternity… God, of course I wouldn´t have wanted for Mabel to die, but this is what he does, he promises people that which we desire most, offers solutions to helpless, desperate prey, only to use them for his own advantage and watch them burn later! I thought you, of all people, would know better, but maybe you aren´t half as smart as I expected you to be!”

Ford was in Mason´s face now, spitting venom at him, looking enraged in a way the young man had never seen him before, and it was then that Bill suddenly stepped between the two, brows scrunched in annoyance.

“Listen, Sixer, as I already told your nephew, I´m just as unhappy about all of this as you are, and I´m already tired of seeing all your stupid faces. If you want this to be over just as quickly as I do you better schedule your mental breakdown for another day and help us out _now,_ or stop wasting our time.”

“I don´t really understand much of what is going on,” Stan hesitantly chimed in, “but since we´re still alive and the world´s still standing… maybe what Mason´s telling us really is the truth. Ford, we´ve both noticed that the creatures in the forest have been acting strange lately, about weird things happening ´round here. And now Dipper´s at our door with that demonic triangle in a human body- that can´t be a coincidence. I think it might all tie together.”

Mason was about to open his mouth and ask what those “weird things” his grunkle had mentioned were, however Ford cut him off before he had the chance to.

“You do realize that those things could be _his_ doing, right?” he barked at his twin, pointing at Bill. “He could be the one causing all of that to happen, and that little story about some ‘creator’ and the end of the world might just be something he made up to fool all of us! Don´t tell me you believe him as well- good grief!”

He hid his face in his hands, shaking his head as he took a few steps back.

“All these efforts, all the suffering we went through, for what? Why? I just wanted to keep everyone save…”

Before Dipper knew it, his great uncle was gone, pushing through the bodies in his way and leaving the shack. His nephew followed him hastily, feeling a tight knot form in his stomach, and found him at the back of the building, leaning against the wall.

Ford looked lost, terribly worn. His wrinkles seemed much deeper and face years older all of the sudden, and he no longer resembled the great, invincible idol Dipper had so looked up to as a child. It reminded him of the fact that his uncles might not have too many more years ahead of them, that he hadn´t called and visited all that much in the last few years. That their time together should have been spent happily bonding, just being a family. Instead Mason had appeared out of the blue and put such a burden on them, and the thought of that made his heart feel heavy with guilt. The young man shuffled over to his great uncle, unsure what to say, but Ford spoke up first.

“You know, after what happened a decade ago, after we defeated that demon… a number of people asked to have their memories of those events wiped. I was against it at first, because I saw with my own eyes what it can lead to, but at the end, I couldn´t refuse them. Some of them were traumatized beyond belief, and even though I still think that meddling with a person´s mind like that is a crime against nature, I helped them with that. The ones that didn´t, either because they were too scared of what the procedure could do or because they just thought that it´s unethical, those still suffer from nightmares. Many of them have become paranoid, afraid to leave their front home at times. You probably haven´t noticed it yet, but the town has become a whole lot emptier. A lot of people moved out, they couldn´t stand the sight of the Falls anymore. It reminded them too much of… well, everything. Hell, if it weren´t for Stan, who clings to the shack like crazy and refuses to leave it behind, I would´ve left as well. So many years I have spent researching the supernatural and trying to uncover things that are beyond human understanding, but now I just wish I could let it all go and, I don´t know, take my brother with me and live a normal life somewhere in the city.”

Dipper stared at his feet, lightly kicking at a pebble and watching it roll away. During his years away, he had never once thought about how the town was handling the situation. On the surface, everyone got their happy ending and peace had been restored, but that didn´t mean that the townspeople didn´t still suffer from the aftermath of it all. They were, just like him, scarred, forced to take those terrible memories to their graves with them. And Mason had brought back the very entity that was responsible for their pain.

He bit his lips at that thought, second-guessing himself. What if his grunkle was right? What if Bill really was lying, what if he had led him back to the Falls, like a fox to a henhouse, only for him to try something like the Weirdmageddon again? If something like that were to happen… it would be his fault, wouldn´t it? What if…

“Dipper, look at me. Do you believe him?”

The young man lifted his head, allowing his eyes to meet his great-uncle´s. He remained quiet for a while, before murmuring:

“I do. Yes, I believe him.”

“Why? What makes you think he´s trustworthy?”

“He isn´t. Nothing about him will ever be good or trustworthy, but I believe him. Even though I have my doubts… I just have a feeling that he isn´t lying this time.”

“That is all? You just ´feel´ like it?”

“He did save Mabel. And he´s not hurting anyone.”

“Yet,” Ford said, sighing deeply. “Dipper, I´m not exactly young anymore, and neither is my brother. If something happens- I don’t know whether we´ll be able to fix things, to save the world a second time. To keep meddling with things that are far more powerful than we could ever be. Please…”

He put his heavy hands on the young man´s shoulders, expression growing desperate.

“Please, Dipper, promise me, that if things go south, you´ll be able to do something about it. That if I, for whatever reason won´t be able to fix it all, you will. That you´ll keep them all safe, our family, this town, the world- promise me.”

Mason noticed how his great uncle was lightly shaking, his fingers digging deeper into his shoulders.

“I promise,” he replied softly, watching Ford lower his gaze. He could tell that the man tried his best to have faith in him- even though he believed him way less than he wanted to. Then, the old man suddenly wrapped his big arms around his nephew, holding him close in a fatherly embrace, which Dipper immediately returned, wanting to provide at least some comfort to the other. Ford´s breath was shaky, as if he was about to cry. Yet, when he finally pulled away, he seemed to have collected himself. Adjusting his glasses and pushing them upwards, he straightened his back and gave Mason a resolute look.

“Let´s get to the bottom of this, then.”

Dipper´s eyes widened in wonder before brightening up, his lips curving into a smile as a warm feeling of gratitude swept over him. Having Ford on his side took a grand amount of weight off his shoulders, however he had no opportunity to express his thankfulness, as the scientist was already on his way back to the shack.

Inside, Stanley was skeptically watching Bill devour the now cold steaks that Ford had prepared earlier. Picking them up with his bare hands, biting off huge chunks like an animal.

“Where do we start?” Mason asked.

Ford moved over to the now no longer hidden entrance of his lab, gesturing for his nephew to come with him.

“No idea, frankly. But I´m sure that I must have at least something that will give us a lead.”

The loud chewing coming from Bill stopped. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, following the two men, but was stopped by the scientist.

“Not you. I don´t want you anywhere near my research!”

“As if I _want_ your fucking research,” the demon snarled in reply. “I was alive long before your unicellular ancestors swam around in their primordial soup. There is not a bit of valuable knowledge I could steal from you!”

“And yet you came here for my help.”

“We are,” Dipper exclaimed, wanting to prevent another argument and possibly violence, “more likely to find a solution quickly if we work together.”

He looked pleadingly at his gruncle, who shot Bill another hateful glare, but turned around without a word, allowing the others to descend with him.

The lab hasn´t changed a lot since the last Mason´s last visit. It was still dark and dusty, illuminated only by the artificial light of the various devices and screens. Desks and shelves that seemed to overflow with books and writings. It felt strange to the young man, being there again. Despite having grown up, the sense of wonder he had felt at the sight of this place as a child still remained, and he yearned for the times when all that had mattered to him was trying to solve mysteries and uncover secrets with his sister and great-uncle.

“Would you look at that! You just can not let go of me, can you, Sixer?” he heard Bill ask in a mocking tone. The demon was pointing at a faded drawing of his Zodiac that was still visible on one of the walls.

Ford ignored the provocation, already fully in his element as he rummaged around, muttering under his breath. He placed a whole stack of books onto the table, not bothering to pick up some loose papers that fell to the floor, and feverishly began skipping through the pages. His nephew, wanting to do something useful as well, turned towards the bookshelves, unsure where to begin. The way the writings were sorted was messy, and while Ford could easily navigate through the chaos, Dipper felt rather lost, especially when he found that many of the books were written in languages he didn´t understand, and that the ink on some pages was faded and barely legible. From the corner of his eye, he watched the demon wander around aimlessly, until he came to a sudden halt in front of a black screen that mirrored him. Bill leaned in, staring at his reflection, eyebrows scrunched and mouth forming a displeased line, and began to touch along his face. Pulling on his ears, pinching the bridge of his nose, running his hands through his hair and opening his mouth to poke the pointy canines. Dipper almost dropped the book he was holding when he saw him nonchalantly pull up his shirt along with his vest to glance at his chest and stomach, patting at the skin.

“How about you do something useful instead?” the young man asked, hoping that it would keep Bill from going even further with his bodily explorations.

“You said,” Ford muttered from the corner, not even looking up from his work, “that the creator is ‘asleep’? That he is gathering strength so he can bring an end to our universe?”

“End and restart it,” Bill confirmed. “Rip all that is apart and build something new in its stead.”

“But that would mean that he isn´t fully omnipotent, correct? If he needs to wait and can´t just do it at once, it means that he must have some sort of weakness.”

The demon tapped his cheek, pondering.

“What I do know is that he must have some sort of source. Something he´s gathering that energy from.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Think, genius. You can´t build something out of nothing, that´s a universal rule that applies to meatbags and higher beings alike. It´s comparable with how you need food as an energy source, just way less primitive. His own creation has become too large for the Demiurge to erase on a whim, so he´ll need to sap power from something… or someone, to complete his work.”

“You mean,” Dipper asked with a hopeful glint in his eyes, “that his plans can be foiled if we manage to prevent him from getting too strong in time?”

“ _If_ we manage, yes.”

“And we don´t even know how much time we have left…” Dipper shook his head, gripping loose page in his hand so hard it crinkled. “I just don´t understand. If this world is really his creation, shouldn´t he be protecting it? Shouldn´t he care about us? And now he´s just getting rid of us like garbage? Why?!”

Shrugging, Bill took a look at one of Ford´s books, looking unimpressed.

“Well, look at the bright side. You humans have always wondered how the world came to be, whether you´re all alone in the universe, whether there´s higher power out there watching over your world. You got your answer, there is! Just so happens that he isn´t interested in you anymore.”

Mason had nothing to reply to that, and he returned to scanning the pages before him for useful information, finding everything from ancient myths of long dead civilizations to vividly detailed descriptions of gnomes´ beard grooming habits, but nothing that looked like it would be of any help. It was at that moment he remembered the conversation his uncles have had before; the one where Stan mentioned something about ‘weird things’ happening in the Falls. The thought wouldn´t leave his mind, and he began to wonder whether those incidents could be a lead, the key to connect the dots. After all, everything weird was always connected, in a strange way, and their current case shouldn´t be an exception.

Just as he was about to ask, the sound of loud footsteps echoed through the room, and seconds later Stan came limping down the stairs, expression alarmed.

“Something´s happening outside, at the edge of the forest,” he reported, not wasting any time. “One of the Corduroy boys saw some strange creatures lingering around there!”

Concerned, Ford rose from his armchair, hastily walking up to his brother.

“Creatures? What kind? Did he describe what they look like?”

“No, but we´re not going to sit around and wait for them to reach the town so we can get a better look!”

Stanley unlocked the door of a safe that contained a selection of weapons, retrieving a gun,

“We´re checking it out, now.”

“You´re not going anywhere, you can barely walk. Give me that, I´ll figure it out. I have a bad feeling about this.”

The scientist grabbed the weapon out of his twin’s hands, and ignored all of his offended exclamations to not baby him around and that they are supposed to work together.

“Look, the way you are now you´re going to hold us back, and I won´t be able to look out for both you and myself at the same time, especially if those things are dangerous!”

“You´re not going alone, buddy,” Stanley replied, crossing his arms as he stubbornly blocked the exit. “Last time I let you go by yourself you almost had your damn head bitten off! You were lucky that…”

“I´ll go with him,” Mason stated resolutely, trying to squeeze himself past his gruncle.

The twins´ heads turned Dipper´s way, and they ceased their fighting, staring at him in disbelief. But before they could voice their protests, Bill, all of the sudden, stepped forward.

“Yes, _we´ll_ go with him. This could be connected to the thing we´re dealing with, and if Sixer goes alone and doesn´t come back to tell the tale, we might miss out on that opportunity.” Then, he bowed down to the youngest Pines, whispering into his ear in a way that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up: “You will keep close to me. Do not leave my side. I didn´t live that long to get killed off because of your carelessness.”

Dipper roughly pushed him away, glaring at him as he left the lab, wanting to get out before any of his great uncles would try to hold him back. A few minutes later they were sitting in Stan´s pickup truck, Ford driving them to their destination, one hand readily holding onto his gun. He surprisingly did not refuse to take the demon with him, but that didn´t stop him from nervously glancing at the tall figure through the rear view mirror. His nephew eyed his weapon curiously, noting the runes and sigils that were engraved into the steel.

“Is this something you and Stan have to do often?” he asked, “investigating paranormal stuff that happens around here?”

“Yes, kind of. We were hoping to be able to retire from weirdness for a while, but I guess that´s not happening. After we came back from our journey, we always had people asking us to help them with all kinds of issues. Goblins ruining gardens, pixies stealing things, and more serious things like curses as well. It´s not a role we wanted to fill, but at one point it just stuck. There are barely any people here who know how to handle the occult, and someone has to do it. Especially now… the creatures have become more hostile, for some reason, even the more elusive ones. And...things began disappearing, and reappearing in places they shouldn´t be.”

Dipper grew tense, concerned.

“Like what?”

“Well… it started out with small things, like road signs being stuck in fountains and groceries from stores disappearing overnight, strewn all over the town in the morning. We just assumed it was some youths taking a prank too far. Then, two weeks ago, dozens of cars disappeared, and it turned out they were at the bottom of the lake. Later, the statue of the town´s founder just vanished. It was gone for three days, then a camper discovered it in the forest, _inside_ a tree, fused to it, with only the limbs sticking out. Me and McGucket have been investigating, but every lead until now has been a dead-end. We are completely at loss, the townspeople are getting more and more unnerved, and- oh, what the hell!?”

Dipper was suddenly thrown forward, the seatbelt painfully digging into his chest as his uncle made a sudden half-turn and stepped abruptly onto his brakes. After the vehicle had come to a screeching halt, the young man brushed his messed-up hair out of his face, to discover that the road was blocked by several dark silhouettes that had suddenly appeared several feet away. When Ford loudly called out to them, reprimanding them for their careless behavior, they remained deadly still, showing no reaction to the scientist´s shouting.

Then, the twitching began.

Erratic, jittery movements that shook their bodies, making them look like poorly controlled marionettes. The shaking grew more and more violent as they began slowly turning around.

“Look at that,” Bill said, gazing at the edge at the forest. “We´re being watched.”

Mason turned his attention away from the road. There, between the trees, were about a dozen of them, all looking alike, going through those unnatural twitching motions. And at the same time, they began getting closer, and the little group could get a better look at their appearance.

The creatures were vaguely humanoid, about seven feet tall, and what Dipper had thought to be dark clothing at first turned out to be pitch black bodies that seemed to almost absorb the light around them. Their forms were blurred-it was as if they were reflections in water that had somehow come to the surface, never quiet taking on a solid, consistent shape, and it felt dizzying to look at them for to long. The only part of their body that wasn´t fuzzy were their faces, which resembled carnival masks made out of porcelain- unmoving and unblinking in the midst of the black mass. To move forward, they did neither walk nor float, instead they vanished for a split-second, then reappeared, always a little closer. A sound resembling high-pitched radio static emitted from them.

“What are these things?” Mason uttered, adrenaline pumping through his body as he watched the beings closing in on their car. They were circling them, cutting off any way to escape.

“I don’t know. I really don´t, I´ve never seen anything like that before- Stay back!” Ford commanded, quickly undoing his seatbelt and getting up, pointing his gun at a few of them. The beings, if they could even understand what was said to them, didn´t listen, continuing their way towards the car.

“I said stay back!”

A loud pang echoed through the forest as a bullet flew towards one of them. The moment the creature was hit, it disappeared, only to rematerialize a blink of an eye later, unfazed by the shot. The scientist was visibly distressed at this, firing several more rounds at the approaching figures, and it all yielded the same results.

Panicking, Ford unzipped a bag he had brought with him, pulling out another weapon and firing away, growing more and more anxious with each try.

“It´s not working, why?! It took months to enchant them, they´re supposed to do the job! Heavens, we can´t allow them to reach the town!”

Mason suddenly felt a ringing in his ears. The sound of white noise, and it was close by. He turned around, heart coming to a stop when he saw one of the beings appear right in front of him, shaking and twitching severely as it focused the young man with its empty sockets. It extended its blurry arm towards him- causing Dipper to crawl backwards with a loud scream, throwing the next best object at it, which just phased through its body. He could hear his great-uncle shout, grabbing him by the shoulder to get him out of harm´s way as the dark body loomed over him. Its hand was now a few inches away from the man´s face- but was promptly stopped as bright blue flames enveloped its body.

With a shrill static noise, it backed away, disintegrating within seconds, the fire eating away at its body until there was nothing left.

“Put those guns down, Sixer, they´re not going to work,” Bill growled amidst the chaos.

A circle of fire formed around the car and flared up the moment a few of the creatures got close, taking out several of them at once. The demon jumped out of the truck right after, and Dipper watched him fight in astonishment, the way he shot flames left and right while nimbly dodging the beings´ touches, blue embers dancing around his feet. A sly smirk appeared on Bill´s face, growing wider with every body he incinerated.

It was so, so strange, seeing him perform those stunts in a human body. His new form had made it all too easy to forget that no matter his appearance, at his core, he was an unpredictable, dangerous beast from beyond the bounds of this reality. Dipper watched with a mixture of fear and fascination, too enthralled to notice how a few of the masked beings materialized behind him and his uncle, up until the sound of white noise rang close to his ear. They, too, made an attempt to take hold of the two humans, and at that moment, a stranger´s voice thundered from nearby. It had a strange effect on the monsters, causing them to come to a halt at once, paralyzed, their violent twitching coming to a stop. Bill did not hesitate, making use of the situation to attack the remaining enemies, grabbing the last one by its mask and setting it ablaze. And just like that, it was over as quickly as it had started.

It took a while for Dipper to catch a breath, and for the sound of blood rushing through his ears to subside a little.

“Is everyone alright?” he breathed shakily, peering out of the car to see whether there were any more of these creatures lurking around. But it seemed like they were safe. For now.

“What a performance!”

Alerted by the voice, everyone´s eyes turned to the right, where, from behind a tree, a man stepped out, grinning as he clapped slowly.

“Now _that´s_ what I call magic. Unlike your pathetic performance, old man. What the hell were you thinking, shooting around like that? Do you want someone to die?”

The stranger walked over to the car in an unhurried pace. He was tall, height rivaling Dipper´s, had a buff build with thick arms and square shoulders. Expensive, if not tacky clothes and neatly slicked back, white hair as well as an overly proud smile- Mason could feel the air of arrogance from several feet away. Under his arm, he carried a thick, leather-bound book.

“Evening to you, too,” Ford grumbled dryly as he watched the man approach. “How utterly nice to see you again.”

“I should think it is. If it weren´t for me and my incantation stopping those beasts, you would´ve been goners, probably!” he said as he patted the large tome. “Face it, coffin-dodger: you´re not cut for the job anymore. Why don´t you and your brother move to a nice, comfy nursing home, retire and leave the work to someone young and actually capable?”

“Oh, so you made one Grimoire, studied a few scripts and learned a few spells, and now you think that you´re an almighty, enlightened occultists? You´re nowhere near a level that would justify such arrogance!”

“Is that jealousy I´m hearing? Because it sure sounds like it. How about instead of lecturing me, you bow down and profess your undying gratefulness to me for saving your life?”

Mason watched the back and forth between the stranger and his relative, figuring that they definitely knew each other. But who was that guy? He couldn´t recall ever meeting anyone like that in the Falls, and yet… that upturned nose, that high-handed behavior and attitude, he would recognize those everywhere, and then, the pieces clicked into place.

“Gideon?” he questioned, eyes going wide in bewilderment.

The man ceased throwing insults on Ford´s head, turning to Dipper to eye him critically, and it took a few seconds for his face to light up in recognition as well.

“Mabel´s brother?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh, Gideon got a glow-up!


End file.
